Andy Murray is the “greatest we have ever had” says “devastated” BBC tennis presenter Sue Barker after the Briton revealed he plans to retire this year.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray, 31, is being forced to quit because of a hip injury.

The Scot will play at next week’s Australian Open but admitted it could be the final tournament of his career.

“To watch him this morning in tears in that media room, it just shows what it means to him,” Barker told the BBC.

“It is the realisation that he is facing the fact that his career is coming to an end sooner rather than later.”

• Tennis legend Billie Jean King leads tributes to Murray
• Oh-so-nears, tears & triumphs – how Murray helped create golden period for British sport
• The moment Murray knew the game was up

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who has also won two Olympic titles and been a world number one, made the announcement in an emotional press conference in Melbourne on Friday.

He said he continues to be in “serious pain” as tries to return to the sport following surgery on his right hip a year ago, and while he wants to play Wimbledon this summer before retiring, he admits that might not be possible.

“Having seen the footage of Andy training in Philadelphia, jumping over these obstacles in the gym, it looked as though he was getting back to full fitness,” said Barker.

“I was a little disappointed in the tournament he played in Brisbane, then I heard he only won a couple of games against Novak Djokovic and I felt it was all going downhill.”

• ‘Scots look at Murray and are proud he is one of them’
• Andy Murray: A career in 10 pictures

‘I was crying for weeks’ – Barker on what is to come for Murray

Barker, who won the French Open in 1976, knows first hand the emotions Murray is feeling having retired from tennis in 1984 after suffering recurrent injuries throughout her career.

She said she was “so, so sad” that Murray was having to end his career in the same way, admitting she wishes “every day” she still played.

“You want to do it on your own terms – not to be forced out because your body breaks down,” she said.

“I had to quit because of injury and I was crying for weeks. I used to wake up in the morning and think ‘what am I getting up for now?’.

“Every day had been planned around tennis, whether it was training, nutrition, playing, or travelling, it was my passion.

“I loved my career, and so I know for Andy it is going to be devastating. That is why he is so emotional about it because suddenly something that has been a huge, huge part of your life has been taken away, and I’m not sure how you ever replace that.

“For me, I still wish every day that I could play tennis again. It’s such an incredible, wonderful job to have.”

‘He’s an unbelievable athlete’

Murray’s first Grand Slam title came at the US Open in 2012 but prior to his maiden Olympic triumph later that summer, he had been dealt a heavy blow when he lost the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer.

But just 12 months later, he ended the 77 years of hurt since a British man had last won the Wimbledon singles title, eventually beating Novak Djokovic having let three championship points slip from his grasp.

“The way he dealt with the pressure, and it was immense pressure, to win back in 2013, I just don’t know how he did that,” said Barker. “It was a moment we will all remember forever.

“He is definitely the greatest we have had. The manner in which he has won matches, when he looks like he is down, he manages to find a way to win,” Barker said.

“He’s a great competitor and he is an unbelievable athlete.”

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Follow the Australian Open on BBC TV, radio and online
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

• Oh-so-nears, tears & triumphs – how Murray helped create golden period for British sport
• The moment Murray knew the game was up
• Murray ‘a champion on and off court’ – US legend King leads tributes
• ‘Scots look at Murray and are proud he is one of them’
• Seven times Murray made us laugh, cry & just feel proud
• Transcript: Murray news conference in full
• Newsround: Murray’s most memorable moments – in pictures
• Reaction to Murray’s announcement

Tears, triumph and turmoil. Andy Murray has packed plenty of each into his tennis career.

But now the end is close – and may even come next week.

A three-time Grand Slam champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, ‘Sir Andy’ has taken us from emotional highs to gut-wrenching lows throughout his 14-year career.

Here’s seven times Murray made us laugh, cry – or just feel proud.

When he lost in the Wimbledon final

Grand Slam final number four for Murray was the big one. Wimbledon. Centre Court. His home crowd. His opponent? SW19 favourite Roger Federer.

Murray was trying to become the first British man since 1936 to win the singles title. Federer had already beaten him in two Grand Slam finals – and Murray hadn’t even won a set.

This time, he won the first. But the rain, the nerves, and Federer’s determination, kicked in and the Swiss won in four sets.

The two hugged. Then Murray stepped up to the mic:

As the crowd gave him a standing ovation, Murray cried.

He said he “felt like I was playing for the nation – and I couldn’t quite do it”.

Murray’s tears moved everyone – and he thinks they earned him the respect of the public.

Two months later, he beat Federer to win Olympic gold. By the end of the year, he was a Grand Slam champion.

When he fought for almost five hours to win his first major

Murray wasn’t always popular with the public.

A joke about supporting “whoever England were playing against” at the 2006 World Cup was taken the wrong way by many.

But the tears at Wimbledon and his Olympic success changed perceptions.

There was vocal support for him as he faced Novak Djokovic at the US Open. It was Slam final number five.

Murray won the first two sets but Djokovic forced a decider.

This time the Scot held his nerve. After the disappointment of Wimbledon, it was his time.

When he won Wimbledon and rewrote history

Seventy-seven years of hurt. Seventy-seven years since a British man had won the Wimbledon singles title. Murray changed that.

In front of 15,000 fans on Centre Court, and thousands more packed on to Murray Mound (formerly Henman Hill), he battled with Djokovic once again.

It was hot, the battle was fierce – and Murray let three championship points slip from his grasp. Wimbledon gasped.

But this was a different Murray.

Djokovic was beaten, Murray was Wimbledon champion – 77 years of hurt banished to history.

When he ruled 2016 and became world number one

Murray began 2016 by reaching the Australian Open final, where he lost to Djokovic.

He ended it by beating the Serb to replace him at the top of the world rankings and win the season-ending ATP Tour finals.

2016 was Murray’s year.

He became the first player to successfully defend an Olympic singles title. He won nine of his 13 finals. He won Wimbledon again. He won his final 24 matches of the year. He became the first British player to top the world rankings. And he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time – despite wife Kim voting for show jumper Nick Skelton.

When he championed women’s equality and challenged sexism

“I have been asked about women’s equality,” Murray wrote in 2017, “and I would find it hard to look any of the top female tennis players in the eye if I did not speak my mind.”

Murray has often spoken of the need for equality in sport. He was the first leading male player to hire a female coach – Amelie Mauresmo joining his team in 2014.

Both Murray and Mauresmo were criticised – one male player even sent Murray sexist texts about his coach – but the Scot repeatedly pointed out he had hired her for her experience as a two-time Slam winner.

In a piece for the BBC, Murray said female tennis players made the same sacrifices as men, and when he corrected a journalist’s “casual sexism” at Wimbledon in 2017, a proud mum moment followed:

When he ruled social media

Whether it was posing with Santa or showing off his fashion sense, Murray mastered Twitter and Instagram.

The Scot took fans behind the scenes of his life on tour: he offered tickets to a fan to watch his first-round match in Melbourne after seeing a post online, he’s answered questions, shared his training sessions and generally been a bit tongue in cheek wherever possible.

When he dropped and broke a commemorative plate

Oops.

Britain’s Andy Murray says he plans to retire after this year’s Wimbledon but fears next week’s Australian Open could be the final tournament of his career.

The three-time Grand Slam winner, who is struggling to recover from hip surgery, was in tears at a news conference in Melbourne on Friday.

“I’m not sure I’m able to play through the pain for another four or five months,” said the 31-year-old Scot.

“I want to get to Wimbledon and stop but I’m not certain I can do that.”

However, Murray says he still intends to play his Australian Open first-round match against Spanish 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut next week.

The former world number one had surgery on his right hip last January and has played 14 matches since returning to the sport last June.

Murray ended his 2018 season in September to spend time working with rehabilitation expert Bill Knowles but still looked short of the required level when he played world number one Novak Djokovic in an open practice match at Melbourne Park on Thursday.

In his news conference – during which he left the room to compose himself before returning – Murray said: “I’m not feeling good, I’ve been struggling for a long time.

“I’ve been in a lot of pain for about 20 months now. I’ve pretty much done everything I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn’t helped loads.

“I’m in a better place than I was six months ago but I’m still in a lot of pain. I can still play to a level, but not a level I have played at.”

• Oh-so-nears, tears & triumphs – how Murray helped create golden period for British sport
• The moment Murray knew the game was up
• Murray ‘a champion on and off court’ – US legend King leads tributes
• ‘Scots look at Murray and are proud he is one of them’
• Andy Murray: A career in 10 pictures

‘The pain is too much – I need to think about my quality of life’

Murray was frank in his assessment of his abilities, conceding he is no longer able to perform to the level at which he won the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016.

He told the world’s media of the agonising pain he is in when playing and says further hip surgery might be needed to ensure he has a better quality of life in retirement.

“The pain is too much really,” said Murray, who is also a two-time Olympic champion. “I need to have an end point because I’m playing with no idea of when the pain will stop.

“I’d like to play until Wimbledon – that’s where I’d like to stop playing – but I’m not certain I’m able to do that.”

Speaking to BBC Sport, he added: “A second surgery is an option. I wouldn’t be taking the option to have a surgery to resurface and replace my hip with the view to playing at the highest level again. The number one reason to have something so serious is improve your quality of life and being in less pain.

“Athletes have had operations like that done and come back to play – but certainly not in tennis and in singles.

“If I do that I’m not sure I will be competing again.”

Murray, who was knighted in the Queen’s New Year Honours list at the end of 2016, also ruled out becoming a doubles player in the future, ending the possibility of him teaming up with older brother Jamie in the twilight of his career.

• Archive video: When Murray was a 14-year-old star of the future
• Britain’s Norrie reaches first ATP final
• Dart to play Sharapova in Australian Open first round

Raw emotion in a sombre media room – analysis

BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko in Melbourne

From the moment Andy Murray walked into the news conference at Melbourne Park, you felt a sense that something wasn’t quite right.

Asked a simple opening question of how he was feeling, an emotional Murray struggled to get an answer of “not great” out before covering his face with his cap and sobbing underneath.

Murray has often showed his emotion on court but this was different. This was raw emotion in a place where players – and indeed sport stars generally – don’t like to show their true feelings in front of the world’s media.

A sombre silence filled the room after Murray temporarily left – before he returned, a little more composed, and managed to tell us more.

• Seven times Murray made us laugh, cry & just feel proud
• Transcript: Murray news conference in full
• Newsround: Murray’s most memorable moments – in pictures
• Reaction to Murray’s announcement

The toils of the past four months – going to Philadelphia to work with rehab expert Bill Knowles and realising he still can’t reach the required physical level which brought him three Grand Slam titles, plus perhaps the harsh reality of being unable to compete with Novak Djokovic in a practice session here on Thursday – have hit Murray.

Despite his fragile state, he still managed to fulfil his media duties and there was even evidence of his dry wit coming out as he was interviewed by television crews after the main news conference.

But a cracking voice was never far away as he discussed the pain in his hip and in his mind as he contemplated his future.

And when his media duties were done, the tears flowed again between him and coach Jamie Delgado as they shared an embrace in a media centre corridor.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Follow the Australian Open on BBC TV, radio and online
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone